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The number of homes being sold successfully at auctions has fallen to a three-year low as buyers become more cautious, figures have shown...
Just 57% of properties that went under the hammer during the final three months of 2007 sold, compared with 69% during the same period of 2006, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
RICS economist Oliver Gilmartin said: “A total of 7,732 properties were auctioned during the fourth quarter, close to historically high levels, but just 4,539 of these were actually bought, leaving 3,310 unsold - 50% more than a year earlier.
Credit crunch woe
He added: “The drop is due to a combination of greater uncertainty about the housing market, as well as tighter mortgage lending conditions as a result of the credit crunch.
Mr Gilmartin continued: “There has also been a 50% jump in the number of repossessed properties that went under the hammer, as a result of increasing numbers of people struggling to keep up with their mortgage repayments following last year's interest rate rises, as well as problems remortgaging.
“This trend looked likely to continue, and the number of homes being repossessed could rise by 50% during 2008. Fears over further house price falls have taken some stimulus out of achieved sales at the auction house as specialist lending has all but evaporated."
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